Justice for juveniles

A backlash over the treating of juvenile offenders like adults is growing because of the life sentence imposed on Lionel Tate.

Tate, now 16, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he committed at 12. He was the youngest person ever to receive a life sentence without parole in the United States.

His mother had rejected a plea bargain that would have given him three years in a juvenile facility because she thought he shouldn't serve any time at all.

Last month, his conviction and sentence were overturned by a Florida appeals court, which ruled that his mental competency to participate in his own defense at the age of 12 should have been checked before he went on trial. He has been freed and placed on 10 years' probation.

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State Sen. Steven A. Geller of Hallandale Beach has proposed amending current laws so that any Florida child 15 or younger without prior convictions who is found guilty of a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment would be eligible for parole after eight years in a juvenile lockup.

While it may not be right to sentence a 12-year-old to life in prison, it isn't right to assume that no juvenile should be sentenced to prison.

The juvenile's intent must be weighed, just as it is for an adult. While we'd like to believe no one under 15 can intentionally commit a murder, that would be naive. When the accused is young, a competency hearing should be a matter of course.

In another case, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether it would be cruel and unusual punishment to execute a murderer who was 17 at the time he committed the murder.

In all of the furor over Tate's life sentence, people have lost sight of the fact that Tate beat to death 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick as they watched television in his home. Tiffany had over 35 injuries, including a lacerated liver.